What airport are you flying into/out of? Or are you driving What time of year?

Pasadena would be a bit more than halfway to SM and is a pretty lively place on weekends. I actually greatly prefer it over SM.

Traffic on Friday night is considered "light" compared to other weeknights and going west you shouldn't have much of a problem at all. Maybe have an early dinner in pleasant Claremont Village just a few miles east of Ontario, and then head to Santa Monica after 7pm. I think you'd enjoy having a full Saturday in Santa Monica rather than packing up and changing hotels etc just to avoid a few possible pockets of slow traffic Friday evening.

I disagree that Friday night traffic is 'light' in any direction in L.A., but we can just agree to disagree. At least annette isn't talking about the 405.

There are HOV (carpool) lanes on the 210 freeway and portions of the 10, so that would help a bit with the traffic/driving time issue. Pasadena is about 35 miles west of Ontario. Claremont is 7 miles WEST of Ontario. Once you're in the car, you might as well go farther than Claremont.

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/systemops/hov/files/HOV_SoCal.pdf

If you follow the stop-for-dinner plan, Pasadena has dozens of fabulous restaurants. Claremont, perhaps a handful.

http://www.zagat.com/c/pasadena-ca/pasadena

http://www.zagat.com/c/claremont-ca/claremont

"Once you're in the car, you might as well go farther than Claremont".

....unless you want to wait out all the traffic, most of which is west of that area, and leave after 7pm like I suggested.

I totally agree with Jean that traffic is not light on Friday nights - especially going into and out of LA. I also think Pasadena is a very nice city to spend some time.

When driving around LA - I/we always tune into AM 1070 on the radio which gives traffic reports every six minutes during the day.

If it was me - and while Pasadena has some charm - I would chill out at dinner - and then sometime after 7 PM - head over to Santa Monica - and wake up without having to worry about checking out, traveling across town, and checking in, etc.

You could be enjoying a nice breakfast/brunch - overlooking the ocean - v. the alternative.

And if you check other posts in here under California - and scroll down and down - you will find some info on accommodations in Santa Monica.

I agree with Tomsd about just driving from Ontario to Santa Monica without stopping overnight at some intermediate city. On this note, on Tuesday I checked current travel time for that route (I-10 all the way), using Google Maps. At 5:42 PM it was 1:23. Minimum time with light traffic (which rarely exists) was about 1 hour. If I think of it, I'll check it tonight at 7PM. And/or you can do the same.

And BTW, if you tune to KNX 1070 as suggested, you will find that the traffic reports are "every 10 minutes on the 5's".

"And BTW, if you tune to KNX 1070 as suggested, you will find that the traffic reports are "every 10 minutes on the 5's"."

Of course, like this morning, KNX never seems to mention the freeway you happen to be on at the time just to frustrate you more than the traffic itself. I would head to Pasadena for dinner, and then on to Santa Monica if that's where you want to stay. Like Jean, I prefer Pasadena, too, but then again I'm prejudiced because that's the area where I live.

If you stayed in Pasadena, this would be where I would want to head the next day. One of my favorite museums on earth.

http://www.travelswithmaitaitom.com/Tom_%26_Tracy_Home/California_Dreaming_1/Entries/2012/4/22_The_Huntington_Library%2C_Art_Collections_%26_Botanical_Gardens_-_San_Marino.html

Matitaitom, mine too!!

Claremont is a college town with the typical college town type of upscale restaurant or sprouts and alfalfa sandwiches place or sidewalk cafe. It's relaxing, and there's easy free street parking.

Pasadena has more of a big city feel with a bustle of numerous restaurants, more variety. Unless you are going to an out of the way restaurant, parking in the downtown area where the majority of restaurants are located might be difficult unless you go with valet parking.

Either would be a good place to stop for dinner. IMHO, starting out at 7pm may still be a bit too early to avoid the heavy traffic jam, but I don't drive those routes regularly any more, so go with what the others recommend.

If you go to Pasadena via the I-210, that would be good. Further south the other east-west freeway is I-10 and that is just as bad or worse than the north-south I-405 or I-5.

Staying in Santa Monica the first night is also a good suggestion.

Whatever you decide on, have a safe trip! LA freeways are no fun.

As I promised, I checked the travel time from Ontario to Santa Monica at 7 PM last night and it was !:10. Not bad.

"I totally agree with Jean that traffic is not light on Friday nights - especially going into and out of LA."

Then how do you explain every radio and tv traffic reporter in the city referring to it as "Friday Night Light"?

I've lived in and around L.A. for most of my 60 years, and traffic is usually anything but light on Friday (day or night). I don't think I've ever heard "Friday Night Light" for a traffic report in Los Angeles. It took us about an hour to go from Pasadena to Hollywood to a play not too long ago on a Friday evening. You can always get lucky, but I wouldn't count on it.